County Fights Well Tap Plan Legislative Fly-in To Focus On Halting Brevard Effort

May 13, 1986|By Katherine Long of The Sentinel Staff

KISSIMMEE — County officials traveling to Tallahassee this week for the annual legislative fly-in will make a strong push to dissuade senators from supporting a bill to allow Brevard County to pump water out of a Holopaw wellfield.

The water dispute is one of a number of issues dear to the hearts of Osceola County government, school board and business leaders, many of whom will play the role of lobbyist for the 1 1/2-day session.

Thirty-three Osceola County representatives will arrive in Tallahassee early Wednesday. Although there is a timetable of meetings and issues that will be presented to the 33-member delegation, politicians say they will take time off from the structured schedule to lobby for a number of causes.

Commissioner Jim Swan said he will appeal to legislators for more research on the potential effect of drilling wells before they approve the bill.

''I'm going to be telling them to take a look at the facts,'' Swan said. ''I think that will swing them more than the political side.''

A hydrological study ordered by the county shows there is a bubble of fresh water underneath Holopaw. Engineers do not know how much fresh water is below the surface, but say that drawing from the bubble eventually could take all the fresh water from eastern Osceola County.

Commission Chairman Bill Beck refused to reveal his lobbying strategy. ''I'm not going to let out my strategy before I get there.''

He said he and other commissioners -- all five are going -- would heavily lobby Rep. Winston ''Bud'' Gardner (D-Brevard). Osceola's new county administrator, Eleanor Anderson, also will make the trip.

Beck said it is important that the bill be defeated because it has ''gone beyond a local issue, and has statewide ramifications.''

The bill was passed by the Senate Natural Resources Committee last week and must face the Senate Rules Committee before it goes to the full Senate, Beck said.

On Wednesday, the group will visit Victoria Tschinkel, head of the Department of Environmental Regulation.

''We'll be asking for increased cooperation between DER and local governments,'' said Les Haskew, executive vice president of the Kissimmee/ Osceola County Chamber of Commerce. ''We're going to bend her ear.'' The chamber organizes the fly-in.

St. Cloud council members say the city's sewage disposal plans have been stalled by the DER, which has the authority to approve or reject sewage treatment systems.

The city worked for months to get approval for a sprayfield south of town. Now, some residents have called for an administrative hearing, fearing that the sprayfield will contaminate well water and cause flooding in the low-lying St. Cloud Manor area.

''We're trying to find out how to circumvent this hearing,'' said St. Cloud Mayor Bob Renick. The city's five council members and City Manager Jim Chisholm will attend the fly-in.

Chisholm said the city will try to find out what kind of funding is available for construction of a second sewage plant.

The group also will meet with Senate President Harry Johnston Thursday morning, and have lunch Thursday with House Speaker James Harold Thompson.

School Board officials will be working to secure $1.6 million for completion of Gateway High School. Johnston has said he is backing the appropriation, said Superintendent Max Waters. School Board Chairwoman Karen Kerr also will be making the trip.

Kissimmee City Commissioner Ken Maher is the only Kissimmee official going along. Maher could not be reached for comment.

Naomi Winbush, a Kissimmee commissioner and director of special programs for the Osceola County School System, said she is urging the delegation to support legislation making it easier for cities to annex enclaves -- small blocks of property in the county which are completely surrounded by city boundaries.

She said she also would like to see legislation making it easier to arrest roadside venders who often set up shop on state-owned rights of way.

Winbush said she also does not favor rules regarding the certification of teachers using testing.